Now that I've won a slam, I know something very few people on earth are permitted to know. A win doesn't feel as good as a loss feels bad, and the good feeling doesn't last long as the bad. Not even close.

Life will throw everything but the kitchen sink in your path, and then it will throw the kitchen sink. It's your job to avoid the obstacles. If you let them stop you or distract you, you're not doing your job, and failing to do your job will cause regrets that paralyze you more than a bad back.

There's no such thing as an open draw. At least for me - I mean, obviously for Roger Federer, I think every draw feels open for him - but for me there's no such thing as an open draw

Being number two sucks.

Nothing can substitute for just plain hard work. I had to put in the time to get back. And it was a grind. It meant training and sweating every day. But I was completely committed to working out to prove to myself that I still could do it.

If Pete’s (Sampras) child is a girl, my son will like her; if he’s a boy, my son will defeat him.

This is the only perfection there is, the perfection of helping others.